Ptolemaios 2
CBS-74 Ptolemaios 2 (aka Ptolemy), is the mothership/MS carrier for Celestial Being in season 2 of Mobile Suit Gundam 00. The ship is commanded by Sumeragi Lee Noriega. Technology & Combat Characteristics Ptolemy's design is largely inspired by a combination of the previous Ptolemy, Assault Container, and GN Arms. As the successor to CBS-70 Ptolemaios, Ptolemy II is a dramatic improvement over its predecessor. Ptolemy II is a multi-purpose MS transport carrier, capable of operating in space, atmosphere, and sea. Ptolemy II overall is designed to be a self sustainable warship, capable of providing combat support to their Gundams and/or Meisters in various combat situations for extended periods of time. The ship has atmospheric re-entry capabilities and is capable of returning to space on its own. In addition, Ptolemy II is also a submarine. The ship is capable of diving underwater for infiltration and stealth operations. The ship no longer uses a docking ring for launching Gundams or portable MS containers. It has a large MS container bay that directly loads the Gundams onto the two linear catapults to launch mobile units with shorter launching times. The MS container bay of the ship was designed to accommodate the Gundams and mobile support units. During underwater operations, the bottom of the bay can open for underwater launching or retrieval. The new bridge is nearly identical to the original, but enhanced with new electronics for optimal performance. The ship also contains a sub-bridge. It's a smaller bridge, fitting only two people for piloting and weapons control. The secondary bridge was meant to ease responsibilities in combat. When the pilots are preoccupied with helm controls, the sub-bridge can take over weapons. It's also meant to be a second place for controls should Ptolemy's main bridge become damaged or destroyed in combat, allowing Ptolemy to continuing functioning even in the most dire situations. Ptolemy requires a large number of staff to maintain its systems and repairs to continue operations. Even though the ship itself was designed to hold a sizable number of crew members, Celestial Being has been managing the ship with a skeleton crew. To compensate for the lack of a full crew, the ship has a large number of Haros and Karels to substitute a human crew. The Karels themselves are low-level thinking maintenance bots, should more complicated tasks are given (ex: Gundam repairs, system repairs), the Haros will dock with the Karels to complete the task. The maintenance-bots themselves are only able of completing a certain level of repairs and ultimately require a human engineer to complete the job. It's why the engineer is often supervising the Haros and Karels during their work; due to their tireless nature, they often complete major repairs in a speedy manner that contributes to the survival of the ship and the Gundams. The ship is loaded with an arsenal of weapons for self defensive/offensive purposes and is able to hold its own without the need of a Gundam. The ship can use high GN particle dispersal for stealth and GN Field for protection, but also has a holographic camouflage system to avoid detection. When greater firepower, speed, and defense is needed, the ship can also enter into Trans-Am mode with or without the Gundam's GN Drives linked to it. Overall, Ptolemy II is a highly formidable and versatile warship. Armaments ;*GN Large Missile Launcher :These large missile launchers all face directly forward, in four clusters of three launchers each. They fire large GN Missiles suitable for use against warships or large fixed structures. ;*GN Missile Launcher :Ptolemy 2 also has a total of 38 smaller vertical missile launchers, capable of firing an array of missiles against enemy mobile suits. The launchers are arrayed in four rows of four (located on the top of the aft section, just forward of the engines), two rows of five (on the underside of the aft section, directly below the topside launchers), and two rows of six (on the underside of the forward section, just aft of the torpedo launchers). :GN Missiles: The GN Missiles are multi-purpose ordinance, capable of being modified for specific purposes in a combat situation. The explosive cluster-jamming missiles are a recent addition to the ship's arsenal. The ship can prepare missiles loaded with mines. When fired, they detonate at a specified distance and release a large minefield in the path of the incoming enemy. A particle beam can ignite the field and incinerate everything within the mine field. The missiles can also be prepared to unleash a smokescreen along with the mines. The traditional ordinance are tracking missiles, loaded with GN particles that disperse on contact to cause an enemy MS frame to explode in seconds. ;*GN Torpedo Launcher :The torpedo launcher is located at the bottom-front area of Ptolemy 2, in between the MS container bays. The weapons platform is a 4-tube launcher, but can fire torpedoes individually if necessary. :GN Torpedeo: Just like GN Missiles, the torpedoes can be prepared to fire specific types of ordinance for underwater and underwater-to-surface firing. The torpedoes can traditionally track and detonate on contact or be modified as a countermeasure, such as concentrated GN particle dispersal and/or smokescreen. ;*GN Cannon :The GN Cannons are a pair of GN Particle Beam Cannons on the top of each side of the catapult launchers. The design and firing capabilities are similar to that of GNR-001 GN Arms. The GN Beam Cannons are fixed stationary weapons, and depend on the helm of Ptolemy to change the angle of the ship to adjust their firing solutions against enemy units. ;*GN Cannon Turret :These beam cannons are very similar to the four forward-firing guns, but are mounted on movable turrets on the sides of the ship's forward section, just aft of the GN Large Missile Launchers. ;*GN Flak Cannon :These small cannons are intended for anti-aircraft/anti-MS defense. Six of them are clustered around the Ptolemy 2's nose. System Features ;*Trans-Am System :Ptolemy II was designed to utilize the power of Trans-Am through their solar furnaces. The ship itself does have a Trans-Am system, utilizing the pre-stored particles in its particle storage tanks; it can be used only for a very brief period of time. For the ship to maintain Trans-Am at extended time period(s), at least one Gundam (and more) is needed to supply additional particles to power the carrier. The Gundam's particle generation can be redirected to temporarily improve the performance of any specific system(e.g. engines, GN Field etc.). It's unclear what the ship's particle output and tolerance are when utilizing such high GN particle energies, but Ptolemy II was designed to siphon GN particles from all four Gundams for maximum potential. :When utilizing Trans-Am, the ship's hull integrity, GN Field, speed, and weapons are temporarily enhanced. Trans-Am is used to help the ship return to space at incredible speeds and can repel powerful particle beams; Trans-Am power is still limited to the duration of the Gundam's GN particle expenditure. Once Trans-Am deactivates on the Gundams, the ship's power return to normal or below parameters until recharged. ;*Optical Camouflage ;*GN Field History Development Little was explained about the creation of Ptolemy 2. Though a successor to Ptolemy, it was never explained whether the ship was a repaired and upgraded version of the original or a completely new build. The ship can logically be presumed to have been constructed at one of Celestial Being's secret bases in Lagrange 1, Lagrange 3, or Krung Thep. The launch date of the ship is also unclear, and was only certainly in active service in 2312 AD.